On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 16:52:25 -0600, F. George McDuffee
wrote:

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:23:06 -0700, Gunner Asch
wrote:
snip
The next big question is why are those girls eating the artwork and
paint off those products?

Gunner
========
The main problem does not appear to be the teen age girls, but
the much younger children that may be in the households. More
than likely there is minimal danger to the teen age girls,
assuming they were not licking their purses and back packs, or
transporting acidic/acetic food, such as pickles, without any
wrapping or covering.

Sugar of lead is an old term for lead acetate. "Lead acetate has
a sweet taste, which has led to its use as a sugar substitute
throughout history. The ancient Romans, who had few sweeteners
besides honey, would boil must (grape juice) in lead pots to
produce a reduced sugar syrup called defrutum, concentrated again
into sapa. This syrup was used to sweeten wine, and to sweeten
and preserve fruit. It is possible that lead acetate or other
lead compounds leaching into the syrup might have caused lead
poisoning in anyone consuming it."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_acetate

The sweet taste of many lead compounds is what makes paint chips,
so dangerous around small children as they tend to chew it.
Indeed, with many young children, the first thing they do with
anything new is to put it in their mouth.

FWIW -- Lead acetate is still used in men's hair coloring
products like Grecian Formula.


Unka' George [George McDuffee]
-------------------------------------------
He that will not apply new remedies,
must expect new evils:
for Time is the greatest innovator: and
if Time, of course, alter things to the worse,
and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better,
what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman.
Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).


And the health hazards/probability of a young child licking a bookbag
soaked with apple cider is what again?

Some times...tempests do form in teapots.

Gunner



"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner